Harrison Bergeron Essay

Improved Essays
A utopia is a perfect society, but even the slightest mishap in the attempt of a utopia could develop it into a dystopia, a horrible and oppressive society. In 1961, a dystopian short story was written called Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut. The society has measured the strength, intelligence and looks of the average person and put handicap on the citizens who are above those expectations. Harrison Bergeron, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, exhibits dystopian characteristics such as restricted information, independent thought and freedom, citizens conform to uniform expectations, and complete bureaucratic control.
One dystopian characteristic that is displayed is restricted information, independent thought, and freedom. For example, “He
…show more content…
One example is, “Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear.” (Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Bergeron) The society in Harrison Bergeron has an average intelligence and if the citizens do not conform to those expectations, they must be altered until they do. George has an above average intelligence so anytime he thinks something that is above average, the radio in his ear plays a loud, obnoxious sounds that interrupts the thought. The government conforms the citizens to uniform expectations so that the governmental power isn't upset. This is a dystopian aspect which adds to the piece being in the dystopian genre. Another example is,“...she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by 200 pound men.” (Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Bergeron) The ballerinas handicaps are so big because she was much stronger than the average person, the uniform expectation. Conforming to the uniform expectation is a unique trait of the dystopian genre which proves Harrison Bergeron is a dystopian

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    One theme the stories share is to be oneself even if society tells one not to. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., the author of “Harrison Bergeron,” incorporates the theme writing the character with uniqueness that is forbidden.…

    • 907 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Synthesis essay for Fahrenheit 451 Discuss the similarity and difference of inspiration that both protagonists in Fahrenheit 451 and The One who flew over the cuckoo’s nest face. What is the most obvious feature that appears in dystopian novels and movies? It is a very obvious question, rebellious spirit and tragic ending appears in most of them. Both Fahrenheit 451 and The one who flew over the cuckoo’s nest are typical examples of dystopian stories. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 the protagonist Montag is a fireman who had doubted his career of burning books and resists the limitation that is put on by the government.…

    • 609 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopian Society has lived in all periods of time throughout history. It is a society that is often isolated from other societies. The author Ray Bradbury has portrayed Dystopian society as a government who often uses propagandas and threatens to make sure people stay loyal to the government. In contrast, a Utopian society is a society possessing highly desirable or near perfect qualities. In the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, the main character [Montag] has lived in a Dystopian society where reading books are prohibited.…

    • 511 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopia Aldous Huxley uses many political and social issues such as drugs, sex, and brainwashing to create the theme of the novel. He also uses diction and details to emphasize the theme. The World State’s use of conditioning centers forces the whole of the society to find the value in spontaneous sex and drug usage. He uses satire to reveal that he does not want bokanovskfiy indefinitely because it would take away all individuality.…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Dystopian World of Anthem The story of Anthem is extremely devious story. It shows numerous of sneaky ways to show that it is a dystopia. Equality is one of five people that knows this is a dystopia. He tries to figure this out each and everyday Equality shows that anthem is a dystopia many times. Equality writes in his journal “our body was not like the bodies of our brothers” (Rand80).…

    • 447 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Harrison Bergeron”, by Kurt Vonnegut, is a short story about a dystopian universe in which everyone is equal through various handicaps. Vonnegut purposely makes this society equal on levels of intelligence, strength, and beauty. Other equality concerns, such as race, are avoided whether intentional or accidental. Vonnegut, throughout his story uses an array of imagery, details, and a particular type of syntax/language. He uses this not only when portraying his characters through their thoughts, actions and speech, but also to set the stage for the entire story.…

    • 736 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1984 Versus Today A dystopia is something that most of us do not believe will occur in our society, but there are already occurrences in modern society that seem like something out of a dystopia. The novel 1984 explores the possibility of our society being completely controlled by the government. In 1984, the government of Oceana (previously London) maintains complete control of their citizens through limiting their thoughts and restricting basic necessities, and there are also examples of these actions in today’s society.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Harrison Bergeron In Harrison Bergeron Kurt Vonnegut writes a short story about an american dystopia of the future. This short story is a satire and work of black humor. His tone throughout the story is sarcastic and sardonic and he also displays a dry witty sense of humor he adopts the same tone throughout the story even though he is talking about a dangerous and worrying situation. He uses satire to point out the absurdity of a society where everything is controlled, “The year was 2081 and everyone was finally equal.” The use of the word finally hints at sarcasm and his dry tone implies the absurdity of everyone being equal because obviously, they can't be.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Problems in Contemporary Society When the world is slowly changing the only way to inform people about what is to come is through dystopian literature. “Dys-topia comes from the Ancient Greek meaning “bad” and “place to live” (Stewart, 2013). In order for a text to be considered dystopian literature it need to consist of four elements: background, hero, conflict, and climax (Stewart). Two short stories by Ray Bradbury, The Pedestrian and A Sound of Thunder, show how dystopian literature alerts the reader to problems with conformity in their society.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many attributes of dystopian societies are manifested in today's world. Some say people’s actions are being monitored others say the education of children is deficient. Authors of dystopian literature use blind following, segregation based on intelligence, and technological influence to establish the connection between dystopian society and today’s world. Currently, many partake in traditions without knowledge of the historical context. Independence, intelligence, and authenticity are slipping away.…

    • 1587 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopia Themes

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In ¨ Someone Might Be Watching- An Introduction to Dystopian Fiction¨ they state common dystopian themes. Dystopian societies are often like funhouse mirrors the magnify problems. The key to a dystopian societies is by first doing that.…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Imagine a life with no privacy. Most dystopian societies limit independence and only focus on privacy and control. A dystopian society is one in which things are completely opposite of a perfect world. An example of an invasion of privacy would be in the film “V for Vendetta”. In the film, there are vans that drive around listening to people's conversations, all to determine if there is any talk against the government, much like the NSA crisis after September 11, 2001.…

    • 207 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Numerous dystopian novels have been listed in bestselling and teen choice book of the last few years. The rising popularity of dystopian fiction for teens has attracted even the attention of the New Yorker and the New York Times ( Miller, 2010 ; Bacigalupi, et al., 2010 ). There is a uniqueness within these novels that made them immensely intriguing to people and famous in today’s society. The concept used in dystopian literature is to not only to entertain readers, but it also deepens their understanding toward the ideas and characteristics of a dystopian society.…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    1. Dystopian: Often referred to as a subgenre of sci-fi. According to Raffaella Baccolini (1992) dystopian literature is exploration of technology, repressive governments and controlled information taken to their limits, renders problematic the lives of citizens set in such societies. Dystopia has usually been used to describe fictional negative societies. Deeply concerned with social issues, the dystopian often display a society on its way to collapsing, immerse in tension and haunted by anything capable to threat its calm façade.…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dystopian Literature has been read and enjoyed by many people over the years, and it is the category that many people today continue to enjoy. The author mainly uses it to take an issue with society, and then multiply the issue times 11 to show how in the worst case scenario would affect people. This genre has defining characteristics that set it apart from other categories of literature, one of which being the societies seemingly utopian community. It's not until you look under the surface of things to see the issues with this world, and the people that do are alienated. People are told to conform to what the world wants them to be.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays